For anyone who wonders whether fingerprints can be erased: the answer that the Cook County morgue produced in 1934 has not changed. The patterns run deeper than the surface. The peripheral ridges survive. The acid burns away, and the ridges grow back.
John Dillinger tried to erase his fingerprints. The examiner in the morgue still found enough to work with.
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*Slug:* john-dillinger-fingerprint-alteration-postmortem-identification-biograph-theater-1934
*Meta description:* John Dillinger paid a doctor to burn off his fingerprints with acid in 1934. When FBI agents shot him at the Biograph Theater, the surviving ridges still identified him.
*Category:* True Crime / Forensic Identification
*Thumbnail hook:* He paid $5,000 to have his fingerprints chemically erased. The FBI examiner found enough left to make the match.
*Tracking ID:* BM-CANDIDATE-076
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## Source Notes
**History.com — John Dillinger** (https://www.history.com/articles/john-dillinger): Dillinger biography, early life, 1924 conviction, parole May 1933, gang formation, escapes, Tucson arrest, Crown Point escape, plastic surgery cost and doctors (Loeser and Cassidy), Biograph Theater shooting details, Anna Sage, Polly Hamilton, agents Winstead/Hurt/Hollis, burial at Crown Hill Cemetery.
**PBS American Experience — Dillinger Crime Spree** (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dillinger-crime-spree): Complete chronological bank robbery timeline June 1933–July 1934 with dates, locations, and amounts: New Carlisle $10,600; Daleville $3,500; Montpelier $10,000; Bluffton $2,100; Indianapolis $25,000; Greencastle $75,000; Racine $27,000; East Chicago $20,000; Sioux Falls $49,500; Mason City $52,000; South Bend $30,000. Officer O’Malley killing January 15 1934; Crown Point escape March 3 using wooden gun in Sheriff Lillian Holley’s car.